People displaced from Ukraine are (rightly) getting a lot of attention right now. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other groups that are suffering around the world.
Shea and I were happy to attend this event earlier this week (though disappointed to not win one of the amazing looking cakes in the Silent Auction!)
[Edit: What a weirdly worded post – people are suffering around the world. Also, Shea and I didn’t get cake!] 😮
(via Reddit)
Pace looking up (literally) to a fire fighter cousin in Calgary…
I think all of us (including me) could do a better job of keeping things in perspective…
Joni Mitchell won a Grammy last night for her “Archives Volume 1” album which features some long-lost masters from her first-ever recording session when she was 19 and a local DJ offered to help her make a demo tape at a local radio studio in Saskatoon.
Pretty cool story!
“House of the Rising Sun” – Joni Mitchell
As Ramadan begins, it’s got me thinking about how (or if?) I balance my views about religion as an atheist with my desire to (try to) be kind and respectful and inclusive as a human being?
I mean, you’re reading a recurring theme post I do most weeks called “Secular Sunday” that regulary pokes fun at and/or heavily criticizes religion. So again, how do you square that circle?
* As a starting point, I’ve said on this blog before that I try not to think of people who are religious as “dumb” or “misguided” but more like they happen to have a giant blindspot in their lives that’s often as much a result of where they were born and the influence of their family as anything. Although I’m not religious, I’m conscious that I have my own blindspots – I like booze and fast food but know it’s harmful, I like campfires even though they’re not great for your lungs or the environment, same with meat, etc. etc. – so this is something I can identify with where we do and like and believe in things that others might think are bad or harmful.
* When I do criticize religion, I try to attack the contradictions and hypocrisies of capital-R “Religion” in the widest sense, not individuals (unless they are individuals who are being hypocritical compared to their faith’s teachings of course.)
* Generally, as long as people of faith aren’t pushing it on me or others, I’m mostly a “live and let live” guy. If your religion gives you comfort or community or helps guide your morals and you’re not actively trying to convert others or being over-the-top with your displays of religious faith, more power to you.
And I’ll be over here cooking steak over the campfire with a beer in my hand! 😉
It’s funny how the most simple, brief exchange can stick with you forever and maybe even help remind you of what’s ultimately important in life.
Many years ago, a former co-worker showed up and saw that she would be working with myself, another staff member who’s arguably about as universally loved as you can get in my workplace and a third who was also known for her helpful, kind personality.
“Oh, yay – I get to work with happy people today!” she exclaimed.
I don’t think she meant to malign other staff or say they weren’t friendly or helpful either. But I think about that brief exchange often and how important it is, as much as possible, to surround yourself with people who, as much as possible, are positive, kind and supportive.
Someday in the distant future, when I retire, I hope I can look back on my career and think something similar – that I got to work with the happy people.
I’m up to playing three Wordle variants daily – the original Wordle, Heardle which is where you try to guess a song as they progressively play longer clips and Worldle where you see the outline of a country and after you guess, it tells you roughly how far away you are from the actual country depicted and in which direction.
I enjoy it but Heardle is basically feast or famine as a game for me – I either get it in the first few notes or I’m probably not going to get it at all.
This also plays into a common criticism of the game – some people feel you should be able to define a range for the songs they play to match your knowledge – either by genres or decades or both – to make it more enjoyable.
Anyhow, on April Fool’s Day they had a brilliant choice of song that I suspect most people figured out quickly!
Our old house used to get a huge lake in front of it once all the snow melted. At least it gave us a good spot to go puddle jumping…
I had been in Pace’s high school for various reasons over the years – through my work, for political events, when the kids’ elementary school Winter Concerts were held in the much larger high school auditorium.
Of course high school is a bit different than elementary school but still feels strange that tonight was the first time since he became a student there last September that we went to his school – in this case, for an information session about an international school trip he’s signed up for a year from now.
